This book was just average to me. The premise really caught me but I just could not get into this book like I thought I would. I think Greta and Flavia are really interesting examples of how trauma can manifest but together I didn’t really get it. The plot went a little too off the rails for me, but that being said, I don’t think it’s anything to do with the book. I can see why so many people adore this and I thought I would be in that camp however I don’t necessarily think it’s for me right now. I’m not totally sure how I feel about this book except maybe a little meh? But I do really appreciate the opportunity to read it.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the ARC! I was so excited to get access to this book, I had seen so much hype for it on bookstagram, but unfortunately it didn’t hit great for me. It was ok, but not really for me. I struggled to get into it but I did push through and by the end I found it to just be a bit bland and the plot was just a bit ridiculous.

They say 'don't judge a book by its cover' but I actually picked this up because I loved the cover art. That and the wild premise of a transcriber falling in love with one of the clients of the sex therapist she works for.

Big Swiss is the most unhinged book I've read this year, I found it to be incredibly funny at times and bizarre and disturbing at others. I wouldn't read it again, but I won't forget it either!

Thank you for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

So sharp it will cut you, very funny but also very sad. Greta is a tragic individual , I really wanted some happiness to shine through but there was some light on the horizon.

Greta is in her 40s and moves from California, with her dog in tow, into a 300 year old Hudson-based farmhouse with her old friend Sabine and tens of thousands of bees. She takes a job as a transcriptionist for a sex therapist and soon learns the deepest secrets of pretty much everyone in this fishbowl town. One client, Big Swiss, is more intriguing to her than the rest. Greta has no idea what Big Swiss looks like until they meet at the dog park and spark up a relationship.

I think this really suffers from the intense hype it has already received, which is unfortunate. In it's own right this is enjoyable! But for me it really didn't reach the lofty heights I was promised. At points I found it quite boring? The cast of characters is certainly compelling, especially Big Swiss herself who I was so intrigued to know more about. There is also a lot of darkness here, this is not a happy story! It is buoyed by the humour however.

I'm definitely interested to read Jen Beagin's back catalogue now!

I thoroughly enjoyed Big Swiss, a very witty, clever and sly poke at a certain type of people in a certain type of town. The characters are developed incredibly well and so are entirely engaging. Whilst the plot is sparse the dialogue is so engrossing it draws you into Gteta's world. Absolutely loved it.

It started out strong with disturbingly but charmingly complex characters. I usually don’t like sarcasm but this book made me laugh. But in the end the plot went off the rail and I realise this is one of the literary novels with a plot that goes all over the place with no reason. Somehow it came across to me as the book is trying to be conciously unique and to set it separate from other similar novels.

It could be intentional as the characters are all like that. Deeply flawed with emotional dishonesty and unnecessarily self-destructive. I appreciate books like that as long as executed well and it doesn’t derail from the central message the author wants to give ( Aally Rooney does all that beautifully).

But I think this book could have been better with trauma and its impact as its central theme, but in the end the book just ended up being superficial.

I would still recommend this book for people looking for laughs though. It did have charming and hilarious moments I enjoyed!

Greta is obsessed with Big Swiss. Greta knows all of Big Swiss's secrets. And Greta and Big Swiss have never met...

Until they do.

This biting, funny character study felt almost like a play (and I'm excited to see the adaptation). It's not plot-led, but it dives deep into the heart of its main character Greta, and it's a treat to see the wider cast of misfits through her off-beat viewpoint. In some ways it's quite absurdist, and everything is slightly overblown, but I really enjoyed falling down Greta's rabbit hole of her doomed affair. The side characters are also excellent, as is the Greta's vast, derelict house, which is almost a character itself. A very enjoyable read.

What a ride, I loved Big Swiss - such a funny millennial read, extra exciting to see it is being adapted for the screen. If you are a fan of character led books with minimal plot and lot's of dry and brash humour - Big Swiss is for you!

The premise of this book, a transcriptionist falling in love with a sex coach client, was so wild that it intrigued me, and as it turns out, the book is as wild as its premise.
The main character, Greta, is a rollercoaster, totally unpredictable, and I did not like her at all but in a love-to-hate-her-kind of way. This book had me laughing out loud and cringing, sometimes at the same time. Unforgettable.

Big Swiss is a novel about a transcriber who accidentally mets one of the people whose therapy sessions she transcribes. Greta is in her forties, lives in a dilapidated old house with her drug dealer friend Sabine, and works from home transcribing the sessions of a sex and relationship therapist, knowing these clients only by their initials. One of these people, Big Swiss, intrigues Greta, with violence in her past that she refuses to see as traumatic, but when they meet in a dog park and Greta recognises her voice, the pair are drawn together, even though Greta knows too much about her.

The synopsis of this book drew me to it, as a messed up premise that could only go badly. It is in some ways part of the troubled woman does questionable things trend, with both main characters not dealing with things in their lives, but with some differences, particularly that Greta is older than a lot of the twentysomething protagonists of these books (and doesn't let you forget it, as she makes a lot of comments about things millennials do).

Whether due to Greta being positioned as disparaging of what she thinks of as millennial things or because she needs to appear as unlikable, the book is full of little snide comments that are meant to be dark comedy, but often miss the mark (racist comments or jokes about gender fluidity dangers at a queer bar aren't quirky and just seemed to be there so Greta could dislike people being woke). There's some interesting stuff in terms of queerness and both characters' attitudes towards sexuality and experience, but it doesn't really delve into it that much, which feels similar to other books in this kind of genre.

In terms of the story, there's not much of a plot, which is fine, but I found that especially during the first half it all felt a bit disjointed, taking a long time to bring Greta and Big Swiss together and getting a lot of non-linear snippets of Greta's life and the clients' transcriptions. The relationship between Greta and Big Swiss draws you in initially, but the overall narrative arc for them is pretty predictable, with an ending that was fine, but wasn't memorable. Apparently it is going to be made into a TV series, which seems surprising seeing as not that much actually happens.

Strangely, there's a lot of dark and weird stuff in Big Swiss, and the premise (plus differences between the characters) sets up some interesting power dynamics and questions, but it just didn't quite work for me, at times trying to hard to be edgy and at other times just feeling a bit disjointed and underwhelming. It's the sort of book that some people are going to really love, but it just wasn't quite for me.

Thank you Faber and Faber ltd for this opportunity. I was not expecting to like so much this book. I was a doscovery and was hiding. It felt sad and wrong. But also so ful of hope and also sadness. How much time we use in thing we really do not enjoy. And how much with people we do like? Tragedy after tragedy but also excitement over excitement. Ai loved the fresh way of the dialogs I listened and read together. It is becoming adictive.